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. 2024 Jan;38(1):42-56.
doi: 10.1177/02692163231217146. Epub 2023 Dec 19.

Patient and families' perspectives on telepalliative care: A systematic integrative review

Eithne Hayes Bauer  1   2   3   4 , Anders Nikolai Ørsted Schultz  1   2   3 , Frans Brandt  1   2 , Anthony C Smith  3   5 , Georg Bollig  6   7 , Karin Brochstedt Dieperink  4   8
Affiliations

Patient and families' perspectives on telepalliative care: A systematic integrative review

Eithne Hayes Bauer et al. Palliat Med. 2024 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Telepalliative care is increasingly used in palliative care, but has yet to be examined from a patient and family perspective. A synthesis of evidence may provide knowledge on how to plan and provide telepalliative care that caters specifically to patients and families' needs.

Objective: To synthesise evidence on patients and families' perspectives on telepalliative care.

Design: A systematic integrative review (PROSPERO #CRD42022301206) reported in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Inclusion criteria; primary peer-reviewed studies published 2011-2022, patient and family perspective, >18 years, telepalliative care and English/Danish language. Quality was appraised using the mixed-methods appraisal tool, version 2020. Guided by Toronto and Remington, data were extracted, thematically analysed and synthesised.

Data sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL were searched in March 2022 and updated in February 2023.

Results: Forty-four studies were included. Analysis revealed five themes; the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on telepalliative care, adding value for patients and families, synchronous and asynchronous telepalliative care, the integration of telepalliative care with other services and the tailoring and timing of telepalliative care.

Conclusion: Enhanced access to care and convenience, as attributes of telepalliative care, are highly valued. Patients and families have varying needs during the illness trajectory that may be addressed by early integration of telepalliative care based on models of care that are flexible and combine synchronous and asynchronous solutions. Further research should examine telepalliative care in a post-pandemic context, use of models of care and identify meaningful outcome measures from patient and family perspectives for evaluation of telepalliative care.

Keywords: Telehealth; family; integrative review.; palliative care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Anders Nikolai Ørsted Schultz reports personal fees from OpenTeleHealth aps. The remaining authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Steps followed in the thematic analysis of data extracted into a data matrix in a review of patients and families’ perspectives on telepalliative care.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
PRISMA 2020 flow diagram of studies included in an integrative review on patient and families’ perspectives on telepalliative care.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Main phases and core elements of complex intervention research. The diagram illustrates the non-linear, iterative pathway through the research process. The core elements should be repeatedly considered and may lead to further work at the same phase or movement to another phase.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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